Schoolchildren Find Teen's Body

Two children walking to school Thursday morning made a gruesome discovery.

They found the body of David Arango, a junior at Reading High School, on a baseball field in the 1000 block of Scott Street in the city's Oakbrook neighborhood around 6:40.

Police, the coroner, and the district attorney responded to the scene and cordoned off a large area around the 18-year-old's body for their investigation, while curious neighbors came out of their home to watch.

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"There's a sidewalk and there's an embankment that goes down onto the baseball field," said Capt. Fran Drexler, Reading Police Department. "There's some possible blood stains from the top of the bank to the bottom of the bank where the body was found. He could have rolled down the bank. We don't know."

Police said it appeared Arango, who lived nearby in the 700 block of Summit Chase Drive, suffered a head wound, but they have not yet been able to figure out how or when it happened.

"Wouldn't surprise me if it was from last night," said Drexler. "When you find a body that could possibly have been there through the night, it just makes it [the investigation] much more difficult."

Investigators said there were no reports of gunshots or an argument. An autopsy will be done this evening to determine the victim's exact cause and manner of death.

In the meantime, authorities are investigating his death as a homicide.

"They do have a lot of cameras over there," said Drexler. "We're already in the process of pulling any possible videos that would help us."

With no suspects for police to speak of, neighbors were left uneasy.

"This used to be quiet, you know," said one resident who didn't want to give her name. "And this happened now and I don't know. You know, it's a little scary."

Counselors were on hand at Reading High School today to help students cope with the sudden death of their classmate.

Arango is the second student in the district to be killed in the past few weeks.

On September 12, Willy Tineo was beaten, shot, and robbed of his sneakers in the 900 block of Green Street.

Tineo, 15, was a 10th grader at Reading Intermediate High School.

Four people have been charged with homicide in the case.

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